It’s been good so far we have mostly been touring on weekends due to work commitments and studying. It’s sort of worked out well cause in theory people come out on the weekends more so the gigs have been well attended. It’s slightly less fuel efficient, but the routing has been pretty good. It’s nice to spread it out and have something to look forward to every week.
You’ve just released the first record (Hollow Realm) and it seems to have been received very well (I haven’t read a bad word about it)?
From the reviews we have read the feedback seems to be positive, we are very pleased with it as a record and it’s great to see our hard work pay off. The weird thing is thinking of what to do next, after spending so much time creating a record we are happy with after deciding to take it seriously and work towards the full length.
How long did it take to record such a complex sounding album?
The process itself was over ten days in a residential studio in Wales; it was quite nice because we were purely recording from ten till ten every day. It was really good to do nothing but play and record music. Before we even went into the studio we had the track order and the whole album written as a piece of music. The concept had been considered and the way it would flow from start to finish had been planned. There was one track which we ran out of time to record in the way we had planned so it was recorded in a basement in Leeds. We were worried this would make it stand out and differ in sound from the rest of the album but fortunately it worked and a few people have singled it out as their favourite track. It’s an acoustic track and technically there’s only two of us playing on it.
How does that translate into the live show if only two of you are playing on it?
We are still in the process of working out how it will work live and we are trying to develop it into a full band sound. A the moment, of the eight tracks on the album we have played six live and the two that haven’t been tried are that one and the last track, which is ten minutes long. We are going to wait until we get into Europe before we drop the ten-minute track and hope people don’t say ‘that’s so boring’. With the two people song it would be nice to keep it as a live treat and re work it for the full band.
Does the live and recorded sound have any variation?
Live we are far more brutal; although this is the first time a producer has got our sound properly. Obviously the recoding is clearer and you can here each part, and live you can only sound as good as the sound engineer at every venue.
To me the album sounds very theatrical and there’s a lot of suspense?
We like a lot of post rock bands but we wanted to take the best bits of what we are all into and try and break the loud, quiet, loud, quiet formula. We always say we are closer to post hardcore than post rock as the dynamics shift very quickly and obviously the violins add another element.
Where do you take influence as a band?
Everyone likes different music, there are classical influences on our violins along with a lot of folk. As a band we are all very into the National and Bon Iver who are both fronted by incredible voices.
Do you spend a lot of time together as a band?
We went on a night out together the other week and ended up in a nightclub where the first song we heard was Dido’s White Flag, which obviously went down a storm. We probably spend less time together now we have contrasting schedules with work and studies but we do enjoy each others company. We are having a lads day out watching Villa and Arsenal tomorrow.
Who would you recommend at the moment, Brontide seem to come up with every review as they are also instrumental but there isn’t a huge similarity between your musical styles?
We listen to Adebisi Shank and Fuck Buttons as far as instrumental music goes, but we have a wide range of influences.
Do your varied influences ever cause arguments?
We only argue about music together when it’s a band on the van stereo. When it comes to the creative process we debate with each other but we have never had a proper argument over any part of a song. We’ve always been really happy with the out come of everything we’ve recorded.
If you could record a film soundtrack to any film ever what would it be?
Ace Ventura 2: When Nature Calls! But seriously Twenty Eight Days Later. People have said you should soundtrack the next Batman film or the end of the world or whatever because we have lots of dark tension in our music. We would say some really horrible film, a David Lynch would be good. Twin Peaks would be amazing to soundtrack, the TV series would keep us working forever. It would be incredible to record forty hours of music. Inception wouldn’t be too far removed from what we are capable of making, there were dark harrowing moments we could emphasise.
3 albums that have inspired or changed your life?
We all have really specific music taste, Limb Bizkit – Significant Other as it made me realise heavy was OK, Bon Iver’s first album was amazing and I can’t think of a third record. Kid A by Radiohead is my last one as it’s a near perfect album.
Blink 182 – Enema of the State as it was the first album I bought, Weezer’s Blue album and probably Rage Against The Machine’s self titled. I don’t listen to any of these bands anymore but they are what made me get into music.
My Bloody Valentine – Loveless, my favourite album, Secondly Sonic Youth – Evil and The Strokes – Is This It as it was the album that made me listen to alternative music.
It’s a cliché but Something About Airplanes by Death Cab (For Cutie), then Autolux – Future Perfect, of recent years Arse Factor Four self titled
3 Dollar Bill by Limp Bizkit was one of them, as when I was just getting into heavy music I sent my Mum out to buy me the new one and she came back with the first one which was a much better album. For similar reasons White Pony by Deaftones and finally Slipknot’s self titled album. I haven’t listened to any of them for over a year but they did all play a part in making me love music.
Sergeant Peppers by The Beatles was the first album I saved up to buy with my own money. Stop Making Sense by Talking heads and Red Medicine by Fugazi, which I first listened to when I was thirteen without realising how important they were.
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